Home Alone With You
by Moosashi
Summary: Zatch and Tia are left alone at Kiyo's house when he goes out for the day with Megumi. Given Zatch and Tia's behavior towards each other, it couldn't be that bad of an idea. Could it?
1. Breakfast Fun

A.N. I've had this done for a while now. I actually have two and a half of the four (possibly five) chapters of it done. I figured I'd post the first chapter. As some of you know, my other work, Rebellious, is still not completed. It will be though. Eventually. When I get around to it. I haven't had motivation to write Zatch Bell related work for a long time, so chapter two of this may take a while seeing as that is the one that isn't even started yet.

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><p>The car drove away, leaving the pair of young Mamodo children all alone. It probably wasn't the best idea to do that, but Kiyo thought it'd be better than having Zatch and Tia come along on his first real date with Megumi. Whenever Zatch was in the picture, things had a tendency to go wrong—horribly wrong. Like at school, for example. He just wanted it to be perfect, and if Zatch was there, it'd be far from that. Though he would have felt much better if his mother was home to watch the pair, but unfortunately that was not the case. She too had plans for the day, and so Zatch would be stuck at Kiyo's house with Tia. Stuck at Kiyo's house with Tia. No, something about that just didn't feel right. What would become of his house...?<p>

The blonde-haired Mamodo turned with glee to his friend, a young girl Mamodo who had long red hair and matching ruby eyes. "So, what do you want to do?" He asked curiously. It was still early in the day, around ten o'clock in the morning.

Tia placed a finger on her chin and closed her eyes as she began to think, but was interrupted by a rather loud growling-rumbling sound. Her eyes shot open and she saw the source of the awkward noise in front of her. Zatch was holding his stomach.

"Ah, that's right; I haven't eaten yet. I'm hungry..." Zatch stated.

Tia smiled at his comment, "Then we'll make breakfast!" She exclaimed excitedly. She ran into the house and straight into the kitchen. Zatch immediately followed her without protest. It sounded like a good idea to him. Tia was an amazing cook, and he knew he'd get the best breakfast if he let her make it.

Zatch entered the kitchen to see the young girl Mamodo struggling to reach a pan that was in the cupboard near the ceiling. She just couldn't reach it, which wasn't much of a surprise. He watched for a moment before he drew closer to her.

Tia groaned at her plight, "It's too high—wah!"

Before she was able to finish her complaint, she was suddenly lifted into the air. She peered down to see that Zatch had lifted her unto his shoulders. She blinked in dismay for a moment, but then returned her attention to the pan that she then snatched. She smiled triumphantly at her accomplishment.

"Okay, got it! You can put me down now." She stated. She waited a moment, but wasn't let down, and instead heard a sinister snickering coming from below. "Zatch?" She called out curiously.

A sudden burst of speed from her carrier sent her whooshing throughout the house as she held on for dear life.

"Stop! Stop it, Zatch!" She pleaded with a yelp.

"Hang on, Tia!" The boy Mamodo replied while laughing joyously. And that's exactly what she did. She ditched the pan and clung closer to the Mamodo, unknowingly covering his eyes as she wrapped her arms around his head and she snapped her own eyes shut. Everything was now black for both of them.

"Waaah!" Zatch cried in distress, "I can't see where I'm going!"

"Then stop you idiot!" Tia replied angrily.

But it was too late. It happened rather suddenly, the '_wham!'_ Zatch had collided with a wall which caused both him and Tia to tumble backwards in a sprawled mess. She recovered much faster than Zatch, and stood with her fist clenched, her body trembling with frustration.

"Zaaatch!" She called out to the still-dizzy boy Mamodo who was now sitting up and rubbing his forehead.

"Owie, that hurt." He stated dumbfounded, "But it was fun!" He finished cheerfully.

Tia's anger and frustration seemed to instantly vanish.

_Fun?_

She peered down at her feet. Now that she thought about it, it was rather fun; but she couldn't let _him_ know that.

"Hmph!" With that, she stomped back to the kitchen, picking up the pan that she dropped a while back.

Zatch stood up and began to follow, but noticed a broken picture on the floor. He became nervous, thinking of what Kiyo might do to him if he found out that he broke something. The Mamodo hastily picked up the painting and slid it under a nearby couch.

_No one will notice! Aha!_

Zatch entered the kitchen once more to find Tia scanning through ingredients: butter, baking powder, milk, sugar, and eggs, all of which was neatly lined up on the table. There was also a large bowl and spatula behind the wall of ingredients, and in the Mamodo's hand was a measuring cup, which she placed in front of her on the table as well. Zatch drew closer to her, and loomed over her shoulder as she began to precisely measure sugar in the measuring cup. A perplexed look found its way onto his face.

"This doesn't look like yellowtail." He said, pointing out the extreme obvious, "What are you making?"

She poured the sugar into the large bowl and then began to measure baking powder into the cup.

"Of course it's not yellowtail. You mean to tell me you eat that stuff for _breakfast_?" She asked in disgust. There was no verbal reply, but out of the corner of her eye she could see that Zatch nodded. The thought of Zatch's strange eating habit sent shivers down her spine. She shook it off though. "I'm making pancakes." She said, finally replying to his question as she poured the baking powder into the bowl.

Zatch's eyes filled with awe, "Aha! Yummy!" He shouted excitedly. Tia couldn't help but smile at his overjoyed remark.

She reached for her next ingredient, flour, but soon noticed it wasn't there.

"Oh, I forgot the flour." She said disappointedly with a small frown. She spun around and almost walked right into Zatch who still stood behind her. He quickly moved out of the way, and watched as the red-haired Mamodo girl went into the pantry to search for flour. She found it rather fast, and held it out with a smile for him to see. She began to walk back, but haphazardly tripped as she did, causing her to lose hold of the bag of flour. It fell and erupted into a pile of white powder that she soon landed in face-first.

Zatch just stood there and blinked, trying his hardest to hold back his laughter. Tia pushed herself up with her arms and looked right at Zatch with an innocent expression. He didn't explode into laughter like he normally would. Something about the way she looked just wouldn't let him. He stared at her, lost in a sort of trance. Her whole face was covered in flour which made her skin a pale white; part of her hair was also whitened due to the flour, making it seem like she had white streaks; and part of her dress was also colored white from the whole mess. All this and that innocent expression made her...

_Cute._

Zatch startled himself with that thought—he even jumped a little.

"Ugh, Zatch!" Tia's sudden change of attitude caught the boy Mamodo's attention and snapped him back into reality. "Get me a towel or something!" She demanded in a frustrated tone.

He did as he was told. He grabbed the hand towel by the sink, "Here you go." He said quietly as he handed it to her. She snatched it from his hands and wiped off her face with it, trying to get as much of the flour off as possible. After a quick clean-up, she returned and retrieved the half-empty bag of flour that had a gaping hole in it. She gave out a sigh as she glanced at the large mess on the floor that had her silhouette in it. She returned to the bowl and dumped the remaining flour from the bag into it.

From there on out there was an awkward silence between the two. Zatch simply watched as Tia mixed all of the ingredients into the bowl. He was easily amused at how all that turned into a gooey substance. Tia cooked a mountain of pancakes, but made another large mess in the process. After it was all done, the two Mamodo children sat down to eat.

Tia poured syrup all over her small stack of pancakes, and then passed it to Zatch who was sitting next to her. He did the same, poured syrup over his monstrous stack of pancakes. He stuck his fork into a single pancake, and the shoved the entire thing into this mouth. It didn't even seem like he chewed. He just swallowed. Tia watched with her eyes wide in disbelief; his eating habits were really freaking her out.

"So, what do you want to do?" She asked as she took a small bite.

The violent eating noises coming from the Mamodo next to her stopped. "Hmm..." He hummed as he thought, "I know! We could play with Vulcan!" He exclaimed excitedly. The noises started again.

Tia frowned, "Aw. But I left Vulcana at home." She said disappointedly.

A loud swallow could be heard from the Mamodo boy before he replied, "Oh." There was a short pause that was followed by a gasp from him, "That's right! It's Saturday!" He shouted.

"So?" Tia replied as she took another bite.

"Praying-Mantis Joe is on this morning!" He shouted as he ran from the table and into the living room. "Hurry and finish up. It's about to start!" He yelled back to her.

Tia sighed. That show was so boring to her. She returned her attention to her barely-touched stack of pancakes. She began to take another bite when she noticed Zatch's plate which was completely clean. No trace of pancake or syrup remained. It caused her to dramatically drop her fork as her left eye twitched.

_How does he eat like that...?_

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><p>A.N. These chapters aren't very long, and this whole story is meant to be a short read. It'll be surprising if the whole story breaks the six-thousand word mark. Hope you enjoyed!<p> 


	2. A Simple Walk In the Park

A.N. So I guess you could say I'm the biggest slacker. There really isn't any excuse for me to be this lazy. I noticed some people reviewing on this so I sat down and finished chapter two. Don't let my laziness confuse you - I really do love all of the feedback and/or reviews you readers give me. It's just...yeah, read the first line of this Author's Notes again. Haha. Anywho, this chapter is short but do not despair! As previously stated, two and a half chapters (technically three and a half now) are completed and included within that is chapter three which will be uploaded within a week, give or take a few days. I promise! Anyways, without further ado, here is chapter two!

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><p>Loud noises echoed throughout the room.<p>

"Zatch, can we do something else now?"

More loud noises could be heard, and quite a few seconds passed before a reply came.

"Just hold on, it's almost over!"

Tia waited patiently, making her eyes avoid the blaring television at all costs. She really _hated_ that show, and really wanted to go play.

"Zatch, can we _please_ do something else now?" She asked again, this time with a heavily emphasized plead of frustration. She sat motionless, waiting for a reply that never came. "That's it."

Much more drastic measures could have been used (and she certainly wanted to use them), but instead Tia rose from her spot and, making her way over to the television, turned it off. She then placed her hands on her hips and glared down at the boy Mamodo.

"Ah!" Was all he could manage; a look of despair covered his face.

"I'm _your_ guest, Zatch." She stated straightforwardly as she leaned in. The despair still stretched across face, signaling that he didn't understand. She continued, "That means you have to be hospitable to me while I stay here." She pulled back and crossed her arms at her chest and looked away with her eyes closed trying to look authoritative.

"Hos…pit…able?" He asked, before it supposedly clicked in his mind, "Oh! Like hospital!" He laughed triumphantly, a big smile going across his face when he asked, "Does that make me a doctor?"

She opened one eye to look at him. "No, you're not a doctor." Her words crushed his hopes. "And no, not like a hospital. It means you have to be considerate of me and do what _I_ want to do."

"Okay then, what does Tia want to do?" He said while standing up to get out from under the scrutinizing gaze of her.

She pondered for a moment, putting a finger to her chin. "Let's go to the park!" She blurted excitedly.

Zatch suddenly froze. "Th-the p-park?" He repeated in a shaky voice. His knees were knocking now.

"Yes, the park." Tia stated again, this time with much less enthusiasm. She was rather curious as to his current demeanor. "Is that a _problem_?" She asked, leaning in again.

"Can't w-we just play h-here instead?" He seemed to be begging almost, and when she didn't reply right away, he actually did start begging, "Tia please oh please Tia please!" He threw himself at her feet, hugging them like some scared child.

She struggled to get him off of her feet, "We _are going_ to the park, Zatch!" She fumed, kicking her legs about until he finally went flying off. "I'm your guest, remember?"

Zatch rose from the ground holding his head that he bumped, and reluctantly nodded.

"Aha!" Zatch exclaimed as he stood proudly atop the slide, holding Vulcan in the air like some sort of trophy. He plopped down on the slide and, still holding the toy in the air, slid down it while making a whooshing noise from his mouth. He flew off at the bottom of the slide and landed on his feet, again thrusting the toy into the air proudly.

"Hey Zatch!"

He turned to her voice and watched as Tia beckoned to him, "Come back up here, and let's race down the slide." She insisted. To be frank, Tia was, ridiculously enough, becoming jealous of that Vulcan toy. Zatch seemed to be giving that silly toy all of his attention and wasn't playing with her. She watched as he climbed through the jungle-gym up to where she was atop the twin slides. "All right, Zatch, sit down." She instructed him with a cheery smile. He did so, and as he did her smile turned devious. Putting her foot to his back and her hands on the Vulcan toy, she kicked the boy Mamodo into a sliding descent down the slide.

"Ahh!" He screamed, "Tia~!" She laughed hysterically. When he reached the bottom, he rose and turned to her. "Tia, why did you—ah!" He stopped his question upon seeing her holding Vulcan. She tugged teasingly at its straw arm, acting as if she was going to pull it off. "No stop, please!" He pleaded. Her devious smile only grew with his plight, and she tugged harder. Then she did the unthinkable.

"Waaaaah!" Zatch hollered, his hands on his cheeks and his head shaking violently. "Stop that!"

Gnawing on the thin straw arm of the toy she sneered between her teeth. Zatch burst into a superhuman run up the slide which startled the girl Mamodo. She quickly pulled the toy's arm from her mouth and just as Zatch was about to collide into her, threw the toy into the air off the jungle-gym. Stopping on a dime, the boy Mamodo changed directions and leaped high into the air, catching the toy.

"I got it!" He exclaimed triumphantly.

Then he realized he was falling.

"Ahh~!"

Tia cringed when the boy Mamodo hit the ground with a loud _thud_. She cautiously peered over the railing and saw him sprawled out and twitching in the dirt, ridiculously holding that toy in the air, unscathed except the teeth marks in its straw arm. She sighed and then proceeded to go down the slide.

"Hey _Zatch_!"

Zatch was rose from the ground with a disoriented moan before the voice calling his name—an almost slurred voice—registered.

"No, not Naomi!" He shrieked.

Creeping up in a small pink play-car on the two Mamodo was the horse-teethed smiley face girl, Naomi. "Who's this girl?" Naomi asked, looking straight at the girl Mamodo.

"This is, u-uh…"

"Tia!" The girl Mamodo stated with a scowl. Her hands went to her hips. Suddenly, she felt her wrist being tugged and soon she was being dragged against her will at a high speed by Zatch.

"No time for talking, Tia! Run!" He exclaimed in horror. Surely enough, chasing behind them was Naomi with her play-car. The chase was painful for the Mamodo children, who suffered various hits from the play-car as well as collisions with the ground and being run over. Eventually the pursuit ended, and the two were back at Kiyo's home and collapsing through the doorway.

"Why…why didn't you tell me you had a bully at the playground?" Tia asked while catching her breath.

"I tried to, but you said to be hos…pit…able!" He snapped back with the large word that was still alien to his tongue.

Both of them sighed and continued to lay there.

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><p>A.N. Ah, Naomi; how I wanted Tia to make you crash and burn. Alas, I have already done that in a previous story from years ago, so I cut you some slack and made you the winner this time. What's that you say - the title of this chapter is a reference to the aforementioned previous story from years ago? Nonsense, I don't know <em>what<em> you're talking about! Honestly...Oh, right; I hope you enjoyed this very brief read! Chapter three, as previously mentioned, will be up within a week or so.


	3. Bath Time Redux

A.N. It would seem that this has been the longest "week or so" ever. Wouldn't you all agree? I never make my deadlines and I apologize. No more promises from me regarding current works posted. This has actually been written for a long time and actually was completed when I posted the previous chapter. I guess I was never motivated to edit and proofread it. But, the other day as I looked through a bunch of old word documents on my computer, I came across this and did the editing. Anyways, enjoy!

Note: My use of the "~" means a word is dragged out. Ergo, "No~" should be read as "Nooooo." Or, "Zatch~" should be read as "Zaaaaaatch!"

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><p>The evening progressed on and it was now around four or so. Both Mamodo children were rather tired from their day, but more than that they were dirty. Zatch had decided to go take a bath, but Tia told him otherwise...<p>

"Ahem! Ladies first!" She said as she passed the boy Mamodo.

Zatch frowned, "Tia, that's not fair!" He cried. She just laughed at him as she opened the door to the bathroom. She entered and grabbed a towel from the nearby shelf. Awkwardly enough, Zatch had followed her into the bathroom. She stared at him, a bit annoyed.

"What are you doing?" She asked.

Zatch sat down on the floor, "Waiting for you to finish." He stated with a yawn. Tia's finger shot out, pointing harshly at the door.

"Get out, Zatch!" She screamed, her anger clearly obvious.

"Awuh, why? I wanted to go first anyways..." He replied, trying to get his point across. Before she could yell at him Zatch stood up with enthusiasm and awe in his eyes. "I know! We could take a bath together!" He suggested with complete obliviousness to the vulgarity of it.

She stood there quietly as she stared at him and his over-innocent smiling face.

"No Zatch." She stated with a fake calmness. She was about to explode, but she held it back the best she could.

"Why not? It'll be fun!" He insisted. The whole thing was sounding more wrong by the minute.

Tia took a deep breath to vent her anger before speaking, "Because I'm a _girl_." She stated with much emphasis on 'girl.'

"Kiyo's mom said that same thing before. I don't get it..." He said as he tilted his head to the side, a puzzled look overtaking his face.

That was the last draw. Tia exploded.

"GET OUT!" She shouted exasperatedly. It frightened Zatch, and he feared he would be choked—so he booked it and was gone in an instant, slamming the door as he left in case she tried to follow.

The Mamodo sighed as he let himself fall back against the door. He could feel his heart racing from the fear, but it soon calmed. He let his legs give out on him and he was soon sitting against the door. He heard the water turn on.

_I just don't get it._

He really didn't. And his curiosity was nagging at him. He couldn't figure out what it was that was such a big deal. His mind wandered...

_Oh, what could it be?_

He couldn't resist anymore. He looked up at the door handle. He _had_ to know!

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><p>Tia gave out a big sigh of relief as she shut the water off. The hot shower had completely revitalized her; she felt as good as new. She began to hum a joyful tune. She grabbed the curtain, pulled it back, and...<p>

...Saw Zatch sitting in the same spot he was before. But that wasn't important—what was important was the fact he was looking at her.

Looking at her.

It didn't seem to register with her right away. She just blinked, trying to make him vanish as if she were just imagining him there. But why would she do that? It didn't add up, and soon she faced the horrid truth: that really was Zatch sitting there, looking at her. Looking at her unclothed body—her bare skin.

She screamed an ungodly scream.

And her face turned cherry red.

Zatch clamped his hands over his ears, his face scrunching somewhat as the piercing scream tore through his head.

"Tia! Why are you screaming~?" He shouted as loud as he could, trying to make his own voice drown out the scream.

Instead of a reasonable reply, Tia threw her towel over herself hastily, and ran out of the bathroom with tears running from her eyes, leaving a trail of water from her still damp skin, as she cried, "Zatch~!"

He removed his hands from his ears and sighed, "I still don't get it..." he murmured to himself with a shrug. He then took his turn in the shower, and afterwards dressed himself in a pair of boxers with a t-shirt, as his gown was dirty. As he left the bathroom, he could feel the damp footprints in the carpet that Tia had left. He decided to follow them; he wanted to apologize for whatever it was that he did wrong. He felt awfully guilty, although he still wasn't sure what the problem was. He climbed the stairs, keeping his eyes on the carpet as he did. He bumped into something as he wasn't necessarily watching where he was going. He looked up, his face becoming as white as a ghost when his eyes met with hers. She still had tears welled in hers eyes, and her face was still red. She lifted her hand...

"I'm sorry, Ti-" But he was too late.

Tia smacked the boy Mamodo so hard across the face that she could hear his neck crack as his head whip-lashed. The force was so mighty that it caused him to stumble backwards. He tripped on the stairs and tumbled violently down them, hitting his head numerous times until finally he reached the bottom, his body sprawled and twitching.

She gasped and covered her mouth with both of her hands; she didn't mean to hurt him _that_ badly!

"Owie..." Zatch moaned in a soft voice that was clearly full of pain. He rose, rubbing the top of his head as he did. "I'm sorry!" He shouted to the girl that stood atop the staircase.

Her hands were over her mouth and her eyes filled with concern; the look quickly faded though. She was about to speak but stopped herself. She convinced herself that what she did was right, and that even if she did feel a little guilty for hurting him badly, she couldn't possibly let him know that. Folding her arms over her chest, she turned her head, "Hmph!" and then stormed off to Kiyo's room.

Zatch continued to stare with confusion at the empty area atop the stairs that Tia was just occupying. He blinked, unsure of what just happened. He rose, but hesitated for a moment. The last time he let his curiosity get to him it ended badly. But he decided that this time was different. He made his way up the staircase and into Kiyo's room.

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><p>A.N. Hoped you enjoyed. I cannot say when the fourth and presumably final chapter will be released. On a side note (perhaps a little fun-fact), I changed the second-to-last paragraph from the original I wrote months ago. Originally it was introducing an out-of-character element in Tia; but I couldn't bring myself to commit to that. I try to avoid changing the traits or personality of a character. Guess that means anything I have written for the current chapter four is going to be unused. Oh well.<p> 


	4. Completing the Puzzle

A.N. Finally sat down and wrote the final chapter to this. I'm glad I changed the final lines in the previous chapter before submitting it, for it allowed this final chapter to be this instead of what I originally had begun writing. Freshly written for your reading pleasure, here's the final chapter of _Home Alone With You_!

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><p>He hadn't been met with a very pleasant Tia upon entering Kiyo's room. She had gathered various objects from the room and sat with them atop the teen's bed, chucking them at the boy Mamodo as he tried to enter the room. Had it not been so scary for Zatch, he may have enjoyed the fiasco as a sort of game.<p>

"Go away, Zatch!"

"Tia~, stop it! Why are you so angry?!"

For the tenth time the boy Mamodo darted out of the room and behind the doorframe for cover, the object Tia had thrown at him—a thick textbook of Kiyo's—hitting the floor with a thud and joining the pile of makeshift projectiles. Bravely, he stuck his head around the doorframe to peer into the room; a magnifying glass hit him square in the face.

"Drat…" Tia mumbled, noticing that she had thrown the last of her items. She sat atop the bed with a scowl and her arms folded tightly at her chest.

Zatch walked in cautiously. He knew Tia could be dangerous even without things to throw. She didn't seem to be paying him any attention, so he took this as a sign of good faith and climbed onto the bed. "I'm really sorry for whatever I did."

With a sigh, she allowed her anger to cave. Her head turned and she took in the view of his large, apologetic eyes and face with a red line down the center courtesy of the magnifying glass rim. "It's…" she hesitated, but gave in, "It's fine. You probably don't understand anyways."

He simply nodded, for she spoke the truth—a truth that fueled his curiosity for a third, charming time. But he knew better by now than to act on it. Instead he scooted towards her and tucked his feet beneath either leg like a pretzel, allowing his gaze to be downcast. "What would you like to do now?"

She hummed in thought momentarily until she came up with an answer. "Want to watch T.V.?"

His gaze rose to meet hers and he nodded.

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><p>Fearful of Tia's rage, the boy Mamodo sat quietly next to her on the couch, the sight his eyes beheld disgusting him as did the sound his ears took in. On the television, a couple was kissing and being 'lovey-dovey.' He certainly didn't want to watch this and he certainly did want to watch a certain praying-mantis superhero clobber bad guys, but he certainly would rather not risk angering the red-head Mamodo by voicing his opinion; after all, she seemed quite content right now. In fact, she was relatively into the show, her hands clasped together while she cooed at the edge of her seat.<p>

"Isn't that just _so_ romantic, Zatch?"

He made a noise similar to a gag, which earned him the girl Mamodo's undivided attention—in a bad way.

"What was that?" She asked him, her hands now on her hips. She glared at him, and fearfully he scooted away.

"Uh, uh I said, I mean I coughed. Just coughed."

For a moment her glare was accompanied by narrow eyes, but then she turned away. "Hmph." She went back to watching the romantic scene. "One day you'll understand what romance is."

His face conveyed a disgusted and horrified emotion, but it vanished the moment he saw her eyes turn to him. He resumed his silence, thinking about her statement. What was romance, he wondered.

"Maybe if Kiyo explains it to you you'll understand." She stated. Her hands then clasped together and her eyes began gleaming. "His romance with Megumi is just starting to blossom." She sighed contentedly after that, but hidden in it was also bitterness.

Like the last piece of a puzzle falling into place, Zatch suddenly saw the whole picture—or in this case, the whole idea. So romance was taking someone special out to places, like Kiyo had done today with Megumi. He remembered the teen telling him how he had the whole day planned out, and Zatch realized his day was about spending time with Megumi, having fun and going out to eat, and just being together with no interruptions. His gaze rested on Tia, and he realized that was exactly what they had been doing all day; turning from her to the television, he watched the scene of diminishing intensity, in which the man kissed the woman's cheek.

"Oh Simon, you're so good to her." Tia stated as if she were in a trance. She suddenly felt something moist against her cheek and her eyes immediately rolled to their corners to see what was causing it; her face turned escalating hues of red.

Zatch leaned back, his face showing he was unsure of his action. There was a hint of a strawberry taste on his lips from her cheek, and the faint aroma also lingered within his nose. An innocent smile curled onto his lips that matched his tone, "Is that romance?"

She hadn't realized it, but her fingertips were touching the spot he had kissed her. She nodded in a mild daze, barely breathing out, "Uh-huh."

His smile intensified. "We've been doing romantic things all day then!" He proclaimed childishly.

She couldn't help but smile at his words. It would seem he still didn't quite get all of it, but he had certainly grasped the most important part of romance. The heat began to leave her face, taking the hue of red with it. "Say, Zatch?"

"Huh?"

"Want to watch some Praying-Mantis Joe?"

His eyes lit up and so did his smile, the latter of which she had been certain couldn't get any brighter. "Yeah!"

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><p>"I'm a bit worried. Do you think they're all right?"<p>

Megumi spoke her thoughts aloud as Kiyo walked her up to his house under the shroud of night. He nodded, assuring her, "I'm certain of it. Knowing Zatch, there will probably be a small mess though."

She smiled at him. "Tia will have prevented that."

He opened the front door for her and then followed her in. "Zatch! We're back!"

"Kiyo, quiet…" Megumi chided with her fingers over her mouth. With her other hand she pointed into the living room. "Look."

The two made their way into the living room where the television was still airing an all-day marathon of Praying-Mantis Joe. Oblivious to the onlookers, and the sounds and hero-talk emitting from the television, were two sleeping Mamodo children lying innocently together on the couch, the boy of whom held the girl in a light embrace, her head on his shoulder.

Turning to Kiyo, Megumi whispered, "We shouldn't wake them. Do you mind if Tia stays the night?" There was delight in her tone, happiness for her Mamodo counterpart.

He nodded while picking up the television remote from beside the sleeping Mamodos. "Not at all. You can pick her up after your photo-shoot tomorrow." With a tiny click, the television turned off. The remote was placed silently atop the coffee table. "Let's get you home." He whispered to her.

They left the room without another word, the front door of the home softly clicking shut. The peaceful atmosphere of the home would remain intact, and the Mamodo children would blissfully sleep in each other's company for a little while longer; for when Kiyo would return and actually step further into the home, upon seeing its state his frustrated cries would be heard throughout the entire block.

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><p>A.N. And that completes this story. I hope you all had a wonderful time reading it! With one more chapter for <em>Rebellious<em>, I'll have finished all my current incomplete Zatch Bell stories!


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